These days, I feel like I read Glines books just because I've read so many that I cannot stop, not because I like them. Just a little pre-warning to this review, I am feeling a little sassy and a lot sarcastic - consider yourself warned.
I am back with another book review, today it is Under The Lights by Abbi Glines.
This next installation in the Field Party series follows Willa, Gunner, and Brady. Yes, the famed love triangle... or is it? Willa lived with her Nonna in small town Lawton for most of her childhood after her teenaged mother left her behind until she forced her to pick everything up and move in with her new family. Now, six years later, Willa has been through some tough things and the only person she can call is her Nonna. As Willa readjusts to Lawton life, she runs into her old best friends, Gunner and Brady. A lot has changed since puberty hit and everyone has changed, especially Willa's childhood crush, Brady.
I think my biggest problem with this book was the romance - and in a romance novel, that's kind of an important element.
I didn't find myself rooting for either of the guys, in fact, neither one of them was particularly likeable. I had a hard enough time remembering which one went with which storyline. Their voices were so similar, typical womanizing high school guy. Which brings me off-topic to a slight rant: Are all high school guys like this? I mean, I'm not a guy, and I'm not in high school anymore, but I seem to remember them having a bit more class than that. I don't know, maybe it's a regional thing? I'm so sick and tired of the 'every guy is a dog' trope. I feel like it rears its ugly head in every Glines novel.
Anyways, back to the book. I didn't love Willa either. I think that's why the non-romance fell flat for me. I could care less about anyone in this book. I felt like some of the character's personalities were a caricatured version of something feasible. Like the whole Lawton drama - umm, what? I was recently at my grandma's house and she had a soap opera on. The things going on in Gunner's life were straight out of one of those things. And I felt like everything just escalated so much, unnecessarily. If you're gonna have family drama, either air it all out at once or stick with one whopper. It was just too much and made things seem unrealistic.
Ok, so let's get into the meat and potatoes, the romance. Perhaps because the two male characters basically merged into one, GunnerandBrady, I wasn't really invested in who Willa ended up with. I'm actually hesitant to say that there was a romance in this book. I think there was like a five-minute romance with a couple of kisses and an "I Love You," but nothing more than that and it was over quickly. I felt like there was so much drama going on, there was no time for a romance. Ok, I said to myself, this is a series, there is a book three. I go to look at book three AND IT'S A WHOLE OTHER COUPLE. This is all I get for a romance with these characters? Seriously?
Part of me knew what I was setting myself up for with this book, but the other part of me just kept going. I'm not sure if I'll keep reading this series, I feel like I always end up disappointed but I keep reading them anyway. I do think that if this series turns into an 8+ book series like the others, I might call it quits.
Overall, not a fave.